Sunday, February 21, 2010

Will and Jen Visit The Windy City

Our wonderful friends, Jennifer Leigh and Will S, came to Chicago for the weekend and we had a blast!

I have been missing my friends A LOT lately and this trip was a great pick-me-up! I hadn't seen any of my friends since Christmas and it was starting to get to me!

Jen and Will arrived Friday to beautiful sunny weather and spent the day playing in the city.They arrived in Wheaton (via the Metra) Friday night where we picked them up from the train station and headed to dinner in Naperville.We ate dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, La Sorella Di Francesca. AMAZING food - from the delicious caesar salads to incredible entrees - we ate till we were about to bust! Not only is the food amazing but the atmosphere is very cozy and it was a great place to catch up on life with our friends!We got to show Jen and Will a bit of downtown Naperville with their lights and cute stores - we didn't make it too long because it was starting to get a bit chilly!Saturday morning arrived with Jen's famous pancakes and my homemade biscuits (not really homemade..more like from the Pillsbury can, but still great).After breakfast we spent the morning getting ready and then headed to downtown Wheaton.We drove around and showed Jen/Will the Wheaton College campus, the downtown area, and drove thru the beautiful homes that surround the campus. We love the houses in downtown Wheaton, there is not one house that is the same, and they all have so much character. Jen only got to take a few pics due to Sean speeding thru the neighborhoods, but it was still a great time!After touring the homes we went to our favorite sandwich place in Wheaton, Shane's Deli - now we miss Stonemill almost as much as we miss our friends, but Shane's makes a pretty great sandwich. I had the potato soup and a rice krispy treat the size of my head.Once we were full again we headed off to discover the shops of downtown Wheaton. Mostly we just laughed at the silly stuff people sell but did find one good shop, Paper Works - it's a fun little gift shop that had some pretty cute stuff. We also took our guests into the crazy sports store on the corner of main and front street. This store never gets old, they have so much stuff in there you can barely move and most of it is from the '70s - including the creepy maniquins.We took the metra into the city that afternoon and had a great time walking the streets. We tried to find a fun cupcake shop but after realizing we past the closest one we gave up and headed into some stores. Sean stopped in the Puma store and gazed at some new shoes ( as much as I wish we could get him some, he really doesn't need any more shoes). Even though the weather was cloudy we got some great pics and enjoyed just being with great friends!We stopped in Sephora for me, I had a gift card and wanted to get my usual perfume which I've been out of for weeks, unfortunately not all Sephoras carry my scent. No luck there but we did get a chance for the boys to try on some fun sunglasses at the Sunglass Hut. After many pictures of the city and each other we ventured into the American Girl Doll store. I had never been in one of the American Girl stores and it was amazing! I would have loved this place when I was younger! It was so fun to walk around the store and look at all the things that they have for the dolls now. We even had fun assigning each of the new dolls to our friends - we found a great fit for Borris! After we had our fun in the AGDS we headed into one of the greatest stores on Michigan Ave - J.Crew. Jennifer Leigh is a loyal customer to J.Crew and it was a blast to see all the new springs arrivals. They had so many beautiful dresses and skirts...made me wish Spring would arrive soon! We then headed to State street - my favorite part of downtown Chicago. It's not busy and has a very funky feel to it. We of course went straight to Anthropology - Annie's favorite store - and had a blast! I could play in their home section for days! Even though the DeWitts are on a pretty serious budget these days I did get to purchase 2 little fun glasses - as my mom calls them "juice glasses" . They are precious and I hope to collect these in the future. They remind me of something my grandmother would have in her house.Finally after we were all out of shopping steam we headed into Carmines for a yummy dinner - we had no problem eating Italian food 2 nights in a row! It was a wonderful meal with wonderful company! And the cheesecake wasn't bad either! After dinner we caught the Metra back to Wheaton. Jen, Will, and I all had fun chatting on the way home and my studious student Sean read his grad books so he wouldn't get behind. As I always say he is a lot more studious than I would ever be!Sunday was another great day! Jennifer and Will joined us for church at Harvest and after the service Sean had to go tutor a student. So the rest of us went to Noodles & Company for lunch. After we were full (yet again) Jen and I dropped Will off at the house so we could watch the winter Olympics and we headed to the greatest store ever...HomeGoods. Jen and I compare this store to T.J.Max on crack. It has the cutest home pieces at insane prices! As we were about to check out Jennifer announces that she is going to purchase something for me for letting us stay at our house. After about half an hour of arguing I gave in and became the proud owner of a fun blue lamp! I can't tell you how much I love this lamp and my sweet friend for her kindness.

Jen and I pouted as the boys made us pack up her things and get ready for the airport.

It's hard to admit when a weekend is coming to an end, especially when you won't get to see your friends for a while. Sean and I are so blessed to be where we are at right now and to be learning so much about life. It can be challenging and lonely at times but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. God has placed us here and continues to teach us new things every day. I'm thankful that He has brought us to Wheaton, I'm thankful for His love and mercy, and I'm thankful that he has blessed us with so many wonderful friends.

Below are some of the pictures from this weekend! I'll probably try to post them with captions later too!

About Us

Sean and I were married on March 21, 2009. We are about to make a big move to Chicago. Sean will be starting the masters program at Wheaton College and I will be joining the corporate world in the Windy City. We are excited to see what the Lord has planned for us and know we are about to learn a lot about Him and our relationship. We also think that we will be Cubs fans too!